Official King of Dragons Summary:
Kisara remembers bits and pieces. Games. Guardians. Golden items. Her life. The others' lives. And she's the only one. Seto Kaiba doesn't. Yugi Muto doesn't. Then the clock starts the day Yami Muto completes the Millennium Puzzle, drawing three thousand years worth of magic into the present time, and the ultimate shadow game begins. Everyone returns for the final showdown in modern Japan. Five years worth of journeys, disbelief, history, and loves that spanned lifetimes in the making... It all starts now. Duelist Kingdom through Millennium World retold. Blueshipping
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King of Dragons
Arc I: Duelist Kingdom
Chapter I
The Story Begins
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"Even in the future, the story begins with 'Once upon a time'."
-Marissa Meyer
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Her breathing was erratic, escaping from her lips in frantic gasps. Time reflected in her mind's eye, memories from a life long since past entrapping her thoughts in a never ending tirade. Games. Guardians. Golden items. Her life. Others' lives. It gleamed and grew, expanding into a grand story meant for the pages of a long-lost fairytale. And everything connected into a grand scheme that bypast her vision and went straight into her nimble hands.
Her paintbrush soared across the canvas, painting out images from a life not quite hers, yet entirely played by her own will. Cerulean hues carved out the sky, whereas vivid, deep browns painted the skin of a man she could almost feel with her thought alone, and porcelain tints contrasted greatly with a woman identical to herself. Together, the two individuals created an effect of of deep importance. They were two opposing elements that made a whole, a rightful correctness, but alone, they meant nothing.
And Kisara knew the other face. It was the face of a man who'd she'd seen several times in her life, and only spoken to once.
Seto Kaiba.
She nearly dropped her paintbrush.
Before all this, before the Echo, she'd briefly glimpsed into Recollection Hall, but until now, she'd merely assumed it was nighttime illusions trying to get the better of her. But now, now it collided with her heart more than ever. She swallowed. What she'd witnessed… It went beyond all possible understanding. The transcendence of time, of space… Reincarnation? She was the reincarnation of an Egyptian-born 'Kisara'? And she—herself in modern America—was watching the life of her… Her…. Her… Her incarnate? And Seto Kaiba had been there, as well?
And was this the reason why she'd always felt an inexplicable notion of care towards him? Why she'd always felt the need to be at his side? She wanted to laugh, but it was a mirthless desire, fueled solely by the pure astonishment of her observations in the past few hours. Or perhaps was it because she'd finally found some form of an explanation about her feelings towards him. She'd never really known Seto Kaiba, and their meetings were so few they could hardly be considered acquaintances, but her emotions remained the same no matter the illogical references behind it. Then again, feelings were never about logic, and neither were Duel Monsters, at least, not especially.
Kisara breathed in and out, wiping her stained cheeks with a spare towel, before tucking it away to be cleaned. As she turned away from her newest addition from her 'untitled collection'—consisting of thirty or so paintings revolving around her past life—she fled the studio. The world she'd been recreating for the past twelve years would still be there when she returned, but she did spare the most recent image a glance.
How in all time that scene had ever occurred would be a constant question in her mind for the next several weeks, until the rise of Duelist Kingdom, in fact.
A bittersweet smile stained her lips.
In the image was indeed of Seto and herself, but what made the painting—a better word for it would be memory—so horribly ironic and almost unbelievable, was the fact that their lips were a mesh of flesh, entwined and fighting for control of a passionately deep kiss. Tears spilled from her incarnate's eyes, and the two were locked in such an intimate position that defined their relationship as lovers…
What had happened back then to drive them to such closeness? But another question tugged at Kisara's mind.
Was she the only one that remembered this 'other' life?
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Seto Kaiba had to force himself to read the words on the page. His brow twitched in irritation, the characters scrambling in his mind as he scarcely discerned their meaning. However, this method proved pointless as he had to reread the paragraph several times without ever digesting the just of what occurred. He was getting vividly annoyed by this point. Just how many times would he have to read this damn page?! He very nearly threw the book across the classroom.
He was in desperate need of a distraction.
His head was still ringing from an echoing migraine the previous night, and his thoughts kept swerving towards something not there. Something of the faintest blue, almost opalescent in nature. But what? His own Blue Eyes was the closest thing he knew of relevance to what remained on the fringes of his mind, but she didn't connect to what he-
He'd just referred to his Blue Eyes as a she. His blood froze.
Why?
He repressed a groan, that echoing returning full force. Pain coursed through his very bones, and he clutched at his forehead. What the hell was happening to him?
Seto!
Huh? He knew that voice, but why? How? He was beyond frustrated, lost in something just not there. He wanted to growl at the pure impossibility of it, but there was something in the far reaches of his knowledge-
"Kaiba?"
He was taken back into the present all in one moment, the ringing not longer existent. Time continued, and his breathing regulated. His vision found Yugi Muto and his group of miscreants staring at him with a look similar to worry.
"What?" he found himself snapping.
Yugi visibly flinched at his tone. "A-Are you alright? You seem a little—"
"I'm fine," he bit out, and by some compelling, he added waspishly, "And either way, my wellbeing is none of your concern, Yugi."
He noticed Jonouchi Katsuya stand up from his chair, probably for some fight he would never win. "Hey, Kaiba ya can't talk to him like dat—"
"Jou," another warned, stepping into the picture for the first time. "That's enough."
Seto focused his attention on the elder Muto. He was a man who had remained a figure in the background, another shadow amongst the irrelevant others in his life thus far, but there was a spark of recognition that passed between them in that moment.
Situated to the left of his younger sibling, Yami Muto watched Seto with trained collection, vivid crimson eyes seeming to search into his soul. His very word had cooled the waters with the authority of a practiced leader, calm and calculating and intelligent. And there was something was hidden behind that ease, Seto knew, something beyond simple understanding. Unbidden, a spike of familiarity shot through him, but he pushed the idea away.
He returned to staring blankly into the pages of his book in some attempt to redeem his already fractured sense of calm. He was bordering on near panic because of that resonating echo. He was anxious and uncharacteristically restless—
"Anyway, guys, what were we saying?" Yugi asked.
"Uh…" Jou scratched the back of his head. "I think it was 'bout how ya we're goin' to show us dis' card or somethin'."
Seto's lips thinned. Couldn't they be quiet for a change?
"Yeah!" a girl named Anzu Mazaki agreed. "You said it was pretty rare!"
Seto paused.
"Oh, yeah! It's our Grandfather's favorite card! Isn't that right, Yami?"
Yami hmphed, "It is very rare, in fact. As such, he practically never lets it leave his sight." There was a hint of humor in his otherwise impassive tones.
Rare card? Could they have found the rare card I've been searching for?
For years he'd been in near constant search to assemble the remaining Blue Eyes White Dragon cards not in his deck, traveling across continents and countries to retrieve what he coveted so dearly. He'd used nearly every business tactic he knew to get them in his possession, but the last, the fourth Blue Eyes, had eluded him the longest. Two years actually. The rest he'd found within a year's timespan of each other, but now… Could it be? And was it really so simple? Within Domino City of all places…
Well, now, he thought darkly. How perfect.
When he smiled, there was no hint of light in his expression, rather it was bred out of much darker intentions.
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He'd done what needed to be done, no matter the cost, but Seto barely had the heart to care. Not really. He'd done what he knew was right. This card was his own now, but what happened to it afterwards… Well, it really didn't require his concern, so long as it could no longer be used against him.
And that was all that mattered.
The ding of an elevator alerted him that the midget twins had arrived. Perfect timing then, the old runt was already sputtering on the floor, probably halfway to a heart attack by now. But his attention was averted elsewhere, and a smirk grew on his lips. Yami was the twin he knew that wouldn't let this transgression go easily, whereas little Yugi would waste his time questioning his 'immoral' objectives. Better to go after the weak link first and deal with the repercussions later.
"Grandpa!" Yugi wailed, racing towards the old fool, and all but crash landing beside him, graceless. Yami and his ever-so-loyal companions were at his side in a moment, the elder Muto kneeling beside his grandfather, his concern evident. "A-Are you okay?"
"Are you alright?" Yami asked, this time quieter, but more defining.
Oh yeah, he's perfectly fine. Don't you see? That's why he's on the floor like a blubbering wreck.
"Y-Yugi..." he managed. "Y-Yami…" So the man could speak. Lovely. If only his grandsons had seen him moments ago, when he'd been spewing nonsense about the Heart of the Cards even as he stared into the lifelike projections Seto had created, terrified. Ridiculous. Cards were all about power, nothing more, and add in that ludicrous notion that the monsters themselves were alive? Senile old man. Duel Monsters was a game.
But his sarcastic nature was upturned as his name was bellowed through the hall by one none other than Yami Muto. Seto found himself to be rather amused by that unearthly rage. Ah, so there is a Muto with a little fire.
He decided to spare them his pleasantries, no matter how rhetorical. "So how's the old man feeling, hmm?"
"Kaiba, you sleaze!" It was that Jonouchi again, and Seto had the inkling that his personality was reminiscent of a pathetic dog, dragging himself where he wasn't wanted. "What have you done to him?"
He raised a brow. What did it look like he'd done? Nothing personal, at least. It would've been far worse had it been, but this was merely about quenching an unrelenting crave. In these cards his wretched heart found solace, if only for a short while.
Seto enlightened them, "We had a duel, that's all, with each of us putting up our most valuable card as the prize. But..." He shrugged. "I guess playing against the King of Dragons was was just too much stimulation for the old fool." His reigning title, shared with only the most powerful female duelist in the world, was apart of his very name. Only Kisara Pegasus rivaled him, the pretty blunette from America whom he'd met, but never cared to consider personally. She would probably rally behind these destitutes for what he'd done, not that it mattered. But what could she do? After all, he'd beaten her before.
"Kaiba!" The girl of their group, Mazaki, glared him down, pointing a finger at him. A finger. As if she had the power to damn him with it. What hilarity. "You should be ashamed of yourself!"
That's highly unlikely. He almost scoffed at her attempts to draw out his compassion, but refrained. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders, apathetic. "It was fair," he stated, snaking a hand into his pocket. "And look at the prize I won." He pulled out the last Blue Eyes not in his deck, displaying it for all to see. The motley crew was on the tips of their toes.
To the immortals hidden in the shadows, they observed this scene with growing trepidation, aware that one of their own would disappear forever more, and by the reincarnation of her one true master. It would be a tragedy that would haunt the Dominion of Dragons long into the following centuries. There would only be three left…
And Seto Kaiba tore the Blue Eyes White Dragon in half. The pieces descended, akin to the fallen scales of a once prosperous creature. A cry ricochet long into the darkness, until it faded, never to be heard by its fellow brothers and sisters again.
Unbidden, ice crawled along the edges of Seto's heart.
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On the other side of the world, Kisara inhaled a sharp breath. A force from beyond this realm collided with her heart, upsetting the steady beat. Aching with the sudden knowledge, tears sprung to her eyes. The barrage of emotion nearly drew her to her knees, but she knelt into a low squat to hopefully regain her bearings. Her fingertips spread through the carpet-real-but her vision was blurring, and her mind plunged into Recollection Hall for only the briefest moment. There, she heard the roar of a dragon.
His dragon.
She was gone…
"Oh, Seto," she whispered. "What have you done?"
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"Grandpa's most treasured card!" Yugi exclaimed.
Seto squashed whatever emotions dared defy him, settling for the fringes of satisfaction to console him. "Yes," he agreed. "The Blue Eyes White Dragon is a rare and valuable card, and this one, will never be used against me." Inwardly, however, something stabbed at him.
"Kaiba," Yami growled, low and resounding.
"My-My Blue Eyes White Dragon! My-My treasure!" Grandpa Muto was trembling, stumbling over himself. Seto glowered at him, and the old man nearly collapsed in on himself again.
"Just hold on," Yami tried, brows drawn, lethally calm.
"Y-Yami…" Grandpa Muto managed, fighting for his voice to be heard. "Y-Yugi… Here, take this…" He held up his deck, a prized collection of his own design. He held it up to them both. "I put my heart in his deck, my soul in these cards, and I taught both of you everything I know… Take them, take my cards and teach him respect. Teach Kaiba respect for the Heart of the Cards…" He was begging, entreating them both with the heart and pride of a duelist.
"We need to take you to a doctor," Yami insisted, knowing that something was bound to go helplessly wrong if they waited any longer. His rationality was kicking in.
Yugi's brows knit. "He's right, Grandpa. You need help."
Seto had had enough of this, however. "Sounds like an excuse. Your friends can care for your grandfather while one of you duels me." Tears were fresh in Yugi's eyes, whereas his brother was set in grim determination, every hindrance left behind as ambition set its course.
"Take him, you guys!" The Muto twins started, melted by the voice of Jou. Their friends were standing beside them. How sweet. Seto wanted to throw up. Somehow he knew a friendship speech was about to waterfall down the slope... "We can take care of your grandpa while one of you deals with creepy Kaiba." He decided to let that one go for the time being. "Teach him what real dueling's all about!"
"For your Grandpa!" Anzu declared, adamant.
The twins looked to each other, apprehensive to what they'd have to overcome. "But…"
"Believe me," Jou said. "You two are the best duelists I've ever seen, and not to mention you both have the Millennium Items! The Key and the Puzzle! You both can take him on!" Contented by the blonde's indignation, they were ready. But who was to take on Kaiba for real? The brothers were two separate ties made to remain together, yet divided by their titles, by birth for their own journeys and histories. They were two halves that made for a whole, but only one could become king in the absence of a ruler.
Yugi smiled amid the tears. "You always were the King of Games, Yami."
Yami looked away. "Yugi, you can't possibly-"
"It's always been you, Yami," Yugi admired. "This mantle is for you to take, not me. The Puzzle chose you, remember? We've both been trying to complete it for years, but it only fit for you in the end. This isn't a path meant for me to take. This deck…" He whipped away the tears. "It's always been yours, I think."
Yami stared at his twin, startled at his voice towards destiny and paths meant to travel as an individual. What had caused this? He shook his head, then bowed it in respect to his younger counterpart. "As you wish." It was a moment that would go down in history, for the spirits and souls of the deck inside were revived, brought back from a millennia's passing. So he took up that mantle, took a sign of friendship, and light blazed on his forehead for a split-second, awakening the forces of the Millennium Puzzle.
The Pharaoh had returned.
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"My Grandpa's deck has no pathetic cards, Kaiba," Yami retorted, and that golden puzzle around his neck flashed. "But it does contain," he smirked. "The unstoppable Exodia." The Head of Exodia flashed in his hand, a telltale sign of Seto's inevitable defeat. Once upon a time, this outcome had been predicted, but it had been brought to life by the Heart of the Cards. Echoes thrashed through his head, a reminder.
An invitation.
No.
NO!
No.
No!
Seto took a step back, teetering on the edge of doubt and belief. "That's impossible!"
"I've assembled all five special cards," Yami continued, but Seto barely comprehended any of what he'd said. "All five pieces of the puzzle!"
Panic. He was panicking. "Ugh... It's not possible! No one's ever been able to summon him!"
"Exodia," Yami said, his word a sonorous requiem of ancient origin. It was something Seto would never truly understand for a long time. "OBLITERATE!"
Light exploded in all directions, throttling out the darkness that spread through in the deep trenches thought forgotten. It soared and vanquished any remaining traces of demonic presence, resting Seto's life points to zero. And his three remaining Blue Eyes, the last three in existence, were no more…
"You play only for power, Kaiba," Yami told him once the duel was over. "And that is why you lost, but if you put your heart in the game, there is nothing you can't do."
Rubbish. Rubbish. Dammable rubbish! Like hell a Heart of the Cards was real. But... "But how? How? How could I have lost to him?" His intellect recounted the events easily, replaying every move, every card, every statistical possibility… Nothing. His eyes widened. There was nothing he could've done to detour this result… Not with… Not with what Yami Muto had accomplished. Exodia…
"Kaiba," Yami called out, and practically through a void. "If you really want to know…" There was a split second of silence, and that echo of lost time fell through his defenses all over again, cutting deep into his soul. Blue and white and gold and sand, sand everywhere, and her, a laugh, a blurred smile, the tinkling of a giggle, the blazing of a crown. Then her eyes, he never saw-"Open your mind!"
Crack.
Something in Seto shattered, splintering beyond repair and fell to a thousand pieces.
But he felt lighter, as if he'd lost a darker part of himself from whatever Yami had done. Groaning, another image filtered past his vision.
Electric baby blue locks fluttered on a white canvas beyond, waving in a breeze unseen, heavenly and angelic. And a voice whispered his name in melodious song he knew all too well.
Seto…
Seto..
Seto.
It was that voice again… But where was it coming from?
"Who are you?" he breathed, lost in a time not his own, lost in some unreal reality, lost in the whispers that pulled at his soul… Lost. He'd lost, but how much had he really lost? It seemed far more than what he'd originally thought…
Seto Kaiba fell to his knees.
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Kisara Pegasus had merely been down the hall, having felt the crack from across the ocean. She breathed, unsettled by the barrage of emotions within the last twenty-four hours, but at the same time, she was curious about it. What was happening in the world to cause this chainlink-effect? These sudden urges? The Echo? Her questions were unanswerable though, and she knew it.
But one thing kept her from thinking she was going mad. Her father, Maximillion Pegasus, was the wielder of the Eye, a golden item from her other life. It was a piece of seven other items from the age of Ancient Egypt, and from what she'd come to remember recently, the last holder of the Eye had driven himself down a path of no return. And something chilled her about her father as of late, but it was now that her suspicions transformed into solid truth.
"Mr. Pegasus, Sir." Kisara slammed herself against a nearby wall, knowing that this specific bodyguard was all about intel. She swallowed thickly, hoping, praying, that her suspicions about her father were wrong to believe.
"Seto Kaiba, our uncontested champion, he's been defeated in a duel, Sir." Kisara froze, dread compiling in her gut. Was that what had happened?! He-He'd lost? But only one person would be able-And what about Neftis?
The guard continued despite her inner turmoil, "By someone named, 'Yami'."
Kisara nearly keeled over by the storm of images that swept past her vision. Games. Guardians. Thrones. Gold. Gold. Gold. So much gold. Sand. Violet. Scarlet-no-red-no-Crimson. She swallowed the bile that suddenly emerged in her throat. Crimson. Then the figure. Adorned in the palace cloths and signature beads of the Royal Court, and skin so tanned, with spike-tipped tendrils that contrasted from all else... He sat upon the Pharaoh's Throne. The Millennium Puzzle rested around his neck. The entire court kneeled before him, a precession that defined his authority and position. A leader of the people, a king by birth and title and right. She saw Seto there, along with the Sacred Guardians at his side. She saw herself there too, smiling beside her pharaoh. Their gazes met, then she kneeled with the rest of them, among his court.
"Brother…" she whispered, then and now. Not by birth, but by feeling. By mutual consent and by Egypt's love. "My Pharaoh."
Seto Kaiba, the reincarnation of a Sacred Guardian and supposed, eternal rival, had been defeated by his Pharaoh. A boy named Yami… Yami was the Pharaoh…
By the Gods…
Kisara ran. Ran. Ran. Ran to her studio, where every image suddenly fit together in the greatest puzzle ever to be created by mortal hands. She swiveled around, more images breaching her conscious thought and connected into picturesque memory, knowledge, understanding. History.
She gulped, remembering a life she never thought imagininable.
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King of Dragons
Author's Note:
Well there's this chapter. Far shorter than what I expected, but next chapter will mainly consist of the plot again. And yes, Yami and Yugi are twins. I'll devel more into the history of how that happened later, as it connects into the past and into today's time period, and how Kisara is connected to them all as a result. The Queen of Dragons~! Haha. Yes, Seto and Kisara share the title despite only having met once, and even as Yami beat Seto in a duel, his title still stands as he has the strongest Dragon deck in the world, he's just not THE champ anymore. You'll see eventually~! From here, the main story will change little by little, until then the entire plot just goes bang! Can't wait until Seto and Kisara meet!
Inform me of errors please.
And review, lovely readers! Constructive criticism is happily read by yours truly.
Have a lovely day~!
-CassandraRoyal